I usually do it for free because the client has bought replacement equipment from me. Yet it does have to be hauled around and taken to some recycling joint. I am thinking of a flat charge of $20 to cover my time. I could accumulate a pile of stuff before I have to run it down to the place.

Do any of you do this, and what kind of fees do you charge?

I thought long and hard before posting this, and I have determined that make and model numbers are not needed.

Well, make and model may actually make a difference. Are you recycling old receivers? (pawn shop) Projection TVs? (don't do it) Tube TVs? (best buy) Legacy control systems? (my basement).

Recycling fees up in the Rockies are charged by weight, so we charge accordingly. Usually double the recycling fees to cover someone time hauling the gear around.

We used to use a place that charged by weight but now we have a free drop off place not far from our warehouse. Usually just charge the travel time and a 10 to 15 minute nuisance fee. This is on top of whatever we charged to pull the old stuff out of old system on site.

Our recycling depots are free to drop off as they are making money recycling the stuff.

If it's a lot of gear we might charge an hour but usually don't charge anything, kind of like a service for the customer. (as long as they're buying the replacement gear from us) If they bought from somewhere else and just want us to install, we leave the old gear with them.

We have a large dumpster. And a sawzall for things larger than it.

Do any of you try to sell the working items? If so, do you share a percentage with the client?

KOT

Goodwell
Audiobegone
videobegone

Around here, it's mandated that items are charged a recycling fee at the time of purchase ("Environmental Handling Fee"). But even they don't make sense.

The cheapest of the cheap inkjet printer is charged an $8 fee... while a massive HP M651DN laser printer weighing 86 lbs is charged the same fee.

Before this, there was an absolutely outrageous "Eco Fee"... where an Apple TV would be charged $7.10 (plus tax!) for recycling. I'm not sure what the new fee is... I think it might be $5, which isn't much better, considering a desktop computer is $1.60 and a laptop is $1.30.

Would these fees be returned if the old product is brought back? Kind of like a core charge at an auto parts store.

KOT

No... you pay it at time of purchase, and the money is collected by the government and given to a supposed not-for-profit to handle the eventual disposal (when you throw it out by taking it to an approved recycling center).

Even if you do it for free, put it on the invoice, to track (you may be shocked at the expense of this service) and to remind clients it's another service you provided.

Goodwill - DVDs, VCRs
Best Buy - old TVs, dead components
Friends - old subwoofers, AVRs, speakers

Sometimes I charge $20, sometimes I do it for free.

Hey, it wasn't me.


You mean, if the recycling fee is $20 you charge $20 to cover that, plus twice the recycling fee to cover someone's time hauling the gear around?

I know, everybody else knows exactly what you mean.

I've been out of the industry a few years now but if it was not working or worth anything it went in the dumpster. If it worked it could find it's way onto ebay or in my system or that of a friend. Got about a grand for a Marantz receiver and 2 power amps from a mate once, got 5 grand on ebay for some Crestron gear, I'm still using a Marantz RC-9500 remote that was donated after an upgrade and my Mum's main TV is a Fujitsu plasma that was upgraded. As the senior AV and automation tech i made out like a bandit. I was pretty good about sharing it around though with my boss and other guys there. We only really worked with the top 1% of wealth so upgrades on expensive systems after a couple of years were common and our customers couldn't care less about the stuff that was being pulled out or what we did with it so long as they didn't have to deal with it.